Germany exported 560,000 tons of scrap in January

In January 2026, Germany reduced its exports of ferrous metal scrap by 1% year-over-year, to 560,000 metric tons. This was reported by Kallanish, citing data from the country’s Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).

The value of these exports for the period amounted to €248 million.

Scrap import volumes in January of this year fell by 15% year-on-year to 268,000 tons; the value of these imports amounted to €92 million, the lowest level since August 2025. The largest decline in imports of this raw material was observed in volumes from the Czech Republic. According to Destatis, Czech scrap shipments to Germany in January fell by 36% year-on-year.

As a reminder, Germany increased its exports of ferrous metal scrap by 5% year-on-year in 2025, reaching 7.7 million tons. The value of these exports last year amounted to €4.54 billion.

Scrap imports into the country last year fell by 9% year-on-year, to 3.98 million tons, with a value of €2.3 billion. The decline in volumes corresponded to lower production levels in the German steel industry.

As reported by GMK Center, as of mid-March 2026, the global scrap market was characterized by a predominantly upward price trend, most noticeable in Turkey and the United States. In the European Union, the market entered a stabilization phase, while in China, price growth remained minimal. In April, the most likely scenario for Europe appears to be market stabilization, with the risk of further growth due to energy and transportation costs